How can you empower students to lead their own learning?

To empower students is to act as a facilitator; leading them to an outcome, not defining it. For example, I would like students to know that alliteration is a powerful writing tool. I speak with examples of alliteration and show examples of sentences that use alliteration and simply state that we will be exploring styles of writing or pose a general question, "Can you identify any literary devices being used?" The difference is that they have now collected an experience which they can connect to by the using the skill of identifying patterns.

Step one, involve student in developing the unit by defining the "essential understandings" that will frame instruction. Students will become stronger as they learn not just subject matter and process, but also conceptually how to learn. Think of learning as that which your students weave into their understanding and knowledge. It is thus important to motivate students with a fundamental platform..."What are the essential understandings of the unit ahead. Step two...Layer that with "what questions do we need to ask to gain these understandings." Step three thus is "what data and experiential activities will weld the unit. Finally, what assessments will give students the feedback they need to progress towards mastery of the unit.

Defining learning outcomes also reinforces and fosters development of social-emotional skills, especially Self-Management and Self-Awareness. The student is able to actively become aware of the progress of their learning. By defining learning outcomes, the student can set a personal learning goal and mange their progress toward that goal. They are also able to participate in the group/class-wide goals of achieving the learning outcomes collectively.

Pretty much nailed Defining Learning Outcomes. Last piece- Gaining consensus around a timeline of target, explicit milestones to support forward progress while reflecting workplace reality. Feasibility rules in setting this. The timeline is then informed by the experiences of students/teacher collaboration, and adjusted according to the best needs of the learners.

Students need to have a sense of agency in what they learn, how they learn it and the environment in which they learn. This agency leads to buy in and allows students to access their own intrinsic motivation. This does not mean they run the show, but it does mean that we need to make the necessary space for them to see their relevance in the process.

An example, even with the youngest learners, is to use their interests to write books for them to practice as emergent readers. If they love cars or trains or animals or mermaids, you can easily get stickers and write stores. The children are very motivated to practice reading when they interested.

For me, voice is a critical piece of the educational environment. I often encounter students who don’t feel their voice or choice matters. I start each day with class discussions that are not always on content. It builds trust and connection not just between students and me, but between each other. Students need to know others are actually listening. Teachers have provided class choices and have been quick to shut down voices that don’t give the expected answer. Voice is critical, but simply allowing students to speak up and speak out is never enough. They need to know they can say something that actually impacts or changes their learning. They need to see their words change our minds, or at least make us think about our teaching.

Agreed. Also, sharing their knowledge with their peers can build their self-esteem and consolidate their learning. Let them suggest how to present their understanding.

Using anchor tasks in a mathematics classroom, and allowing students the choice of working in pairs, groups, or individually, honors students' personal problem-solving preferences. With non-routine anchor tasks, encouraging students to share their thought processes with others is a realistic instructional strategy that gives students an opportunity to use their voice within the learning process.

One formative assessment that works really well for teaching writing (AP World and APUSH specifically) is peer reading. This requires training students on graded examples so they have a better idea of how to actually check against the standards/rubric. Students grade each other’s writing and their own. They get more adept at understanding what the prompts are looking for by learning how to grade each other.

Formative assessments, or checks for understanding, are one of the most powerful tools in an educator's arsenal. The key to ensuring their effectiveness is to embed the checks frequently, within the lesson. It is also important to provide specific, individual feedback to each student. Without this last step, there is a real possibility of students moving through the lesson with a poor understanding of the learning concept. It may seem counterintuitive, but by correcting any misunderstanding or errors immediately as they arise, students gain confidence in their ability to move forward independently.

Reflection and metacognition are also vitally important skills for educators. One way I have found to be helpful in engaging students to understand and practice this challenging concept is to model it myself; regularly. I often share my thinking out loud during a class or presentation, even when the topic is unrelated to metacognition. Sharing the notes I've made based on reflecting on instructional practices with students is also a common practice. Modeling and sharing my own journey in metacognition has kept me consciously aware of its importance and practicing - demonstrating - it transparently encourages students to engage actively as well. "Tell me, I forget. Show me, I understand. Involve me, I learn." (Sadly I cannot recall source.)

I think reflection is key in the learning process. Students should not only be encouraged to reflect on their learning, but should also feel comfortable to do so because it can sometimes be intimidating. Students should learn these skills along with self-advocation because these skills will help them achieve their goals in school and when they grow up.

We all know the power of reflection. Teaching students this strategy early on is a perfect way to ensure students become responsible for their own learning. Asking Kindergarten students to demonstrate how they feel about a particular topic with a show of thumbs up or thumbs down puts the learning squarely on their shoulders. When students become part of the learning process rather than compliant spectators, they are able to articulate later on when they may struggle. This very act creates ownership.

An innovative educator inspires his students to take charge of their learning, using community connections. Leaving traditional teaching methods, they ventured beyond walls to find wise experts in their area. The journey included engaging with a guest speaker and visiting businesses to see theory in action. They partnered with organizations, advocating for environmental causes and supporting homeless shelters, realizing their potential to make an impact. This transformative journey made students active participants in their learning, fueled by their passions and the wisdom of their community. This story highlights the power of community-based learning, where students become their own learning's heroes, and the world is their classroom.

As stated earlier, working together to solve non-routine problems is a great way to instill authentic, relevant soft skills students will take with them when they join the workforce. Collaborating and communicating with their peers engages students' interests and empowers them to persevere through challenging concepts.

Leadership roles within a classroom can look different for individual students. It is important to know your students while providing them opportunities to lead in areas they feel comfortable. Some students like to stand in front of the class and share their perspective while others prefer to work quietly off to the side, perhaps independently and free of distractions. Whatever the scenario, it is through understanding and knowing your own students' individual preferences, honoring this and providing choice in any leadership opportunity that results in an empowered learner.

One thing I've found helpful is to engage families in how these types of learning experiences differ. There may not have copied notes and share what they're learning with discussion or diagrams. Teachers explore larger topics with questions that aren't simple to answer. Another challenge is that students demonstrate their learning after research and collaboration with others. Without engaging stakeholders in the new outcomes that prepare them for career readiness it can come home as student's frustration with "teaching themselves" or parents asking for scripted things to memorize.

One thing I would add is teaching our students about what it means to have a growth mindset. We must teach them that our brains grow/change as we learn new things throughout our lifetime. When our students believe that their efforts and learning strategies will have positive academic outcomes, they are more motivated to succeed. They understand the correlation between effort and results. Students with a fixed mindset, on the other hand, may equate a bad grade with failure or not being smart enough.

Elevate student voices and validate theirs uniqueness: When students are seen, heard and recognized for themselves , they are confident, feel secured enough to take risks, and immerse in new learning . Encouraging our students to explore , share personal insights and experiences helps develop their self esteem and confidence. Also respecting and validating students's identities, home cultures, and language as strengths and assets emboldens their abilities and enhances their performances.

Learning has never been something that anyone, parents, teachers, mentors, or friends could force on another, especially academic learning. One of the first things, in my opinion, we need to do to motivate and mobilize the child to lead their learning is to explain and clarify the “why” behind the “what” they need to learn. This helps demystify subjects that have been known to be a function of memory, like math and social studies. If the child knows that what they learn is strongly connected to the world around them, and they don’t need to memorize it, but apply what they learn - they will be more intrinsically motivated to lead their own learning. Choosing topics within subjects that are more relevant to a child’s context, fosters this.